A Study Of The Coherent Function Of Conceptual Metaphors In Fortress Besieged

Cognitive linguistics regards language as one of human cognitive activities,while metaphor is not only a rhetorical device,but also a reflection of human thinking process.Therefore,conceptual metaphor is also a cognitive way,and its essence is a process of mapping across conceptual domains.The cognitive perspective of conceptual metaphor theory extends the boundary of metaphor research,which used to be limited to lexical or syntactic level,but now develops into discourse level.With the development of conceptual metaphor theory,some scholars have begun to pay attention to the textual function of metaphor.Fortress Besieged,the only novel written by Ch'ien Chung-shu,is one of the rare masterpieces in the history of modern Chinese literature.The author then selects this literary work and explores the textual coherent function of conceptual metaphor,which is a narrative novel full of metaphors,and provided sufficient data for this study.This study aims to first identify the major types of conceptual metaphors in Fortress Besieged,and then focus on exploring the role of conceptual metaphors in the realization of discourse coherence in the text.Through the cognitive approach,this study pays attention to discourse coherence and aims at proving the significance of cognitive approach in discourse coherence study.This study mainly uses the qualitative method.Firstly,based on the conceptual metaphor theory proposed by Lakoff and Johnson,some passages involving a metaphor or complex metaphor are selected from the novel.These metaphors are put into seven groups according to the different source domains involved in the novel,that is,the metaphor of DISEASE,WAR,CONTAINER,OPERA,DIET,BOWL and FACE.Then,how these conceptual metaphors help achieve the local and thematic coherence of the novel is analyzed from the perspective of the inherent characteristics of conceptual metaphors.It is found that the typical conceptual metaphors in Fortress Besieged mainly include “LOVE IS DISEASE”,“LOVE IS WAR”,“MARRIAGE IS CONTAINER”,“LIFE IS OPERA”,“LIFE IS DIET”,“JOB IS BOWL” and “FAME IS FACE”.The conceptual metaphor “LOVE IS DISEASE” plays a role in the local coherence of discourse relying on the way: the systematicity of a single conceptual metaphor.What's more,the remaining conceptual metaphors reflect the three levels of theme ofthis novel: “love is fortress besieged”,“life is fortress besieged” and “society is fortress besieged”,realizing the thematic coherence of the discourse at the level of central theme---“X is fortress besieged”.In conclusion,the study on the coherent function of conceptual metaphor in Fortress Besieged not only enriches the studies of conceptual metaphor's discourse function but also helps readers understand the themes of this masterpiece better.